The Blog
Reflections
Essays, dispatches, and field notes from the writers and editors of Soulmaker Press — on Eros, soul, freedom, and the slow work of becoming.
August 4, 2026
Soulmaking in Art: Why Artists Keep Returning to the Term
by Soulmaker Press
In art education, soulmaking means creative work undertaken as inner work. Where the idea comes from, why teachers use it, and five studio practices.
August 4, 2026
Soulmaking vs. Self-Improvement: The Difference That Matters
by Soulmaker Press
Self-improvement optimizes you against an external standard. Soulmaking works downward, into depth. Why the difference changes what you do with a hard year.
August 4, 2026
Letter Writing as a Soulmaking Practice
by Soulmaker Press
A letter is soul writing with a witness. Why the oldest form of correspondence is the deepest tool in the soulmaking kit, and how to begin writing them.
August 4, 2026
What Is a Soulmaker?
by Soulmaker Press
A soulmaker is a person who treats their life as material. What the word means, where it comes from, and how you would recognize one.
August 4, 2026
Soulmaking in Hard Places: The Prison Edition Story
by Soulmaker Press
The Art of Soulmaking has a prison edition worked by incarcerated students in 1,500+ facilities across 48 states. The story of the hardest campus.
August 2, 2026
What Is Soulmaking? From Keats' Vale of Soul-Making to a Daily Practice
by Soulmaker Press
Soulmaking is the practice of letting experience shape you into someone with depth. What the word means, where it comes from, and how to begin.
August 2, 2026
The Vale of Soul-Making: What Keats Actually Meant
by Soulmaker Press
In an 1819 letter, Keats replaced "vale of tears" with "vale of soul-making." What the letter says, why he wrote it, and why it still lands.
August 2, 2026
Soulmaking Practices: A Beginner's Guide
by Soulmaker Press
Five practices that turn experience into depth: soul writing, letters, contemplation, inquiry, and service. How to start, and a first month that works.
August 2, 2026
Soulmaking Journal Prompts: 25 Questions That Go Deep
by Soulmaker Press
Twenty-five prompts for soul writing, organized by what they work on: contact, meaning, desire, difficulty, and return. With notes on how to use them.
June 9, 2023
The Weight of Visibility
by Marie D. Jones
On being seen — and the cost of refusing to look away.
June 9, 2023
Chasing Pain
by Beth Wareham
What we run toward when we run from ourselves.
June 9, 2023
Black Beauty
by Marissa Ward
A meditation on beauty, blackness, and belonging.
June 9, 2023
Worldwide Maranasati
by Beth Wareham
The ancient practice of contemplating death — and what it gives back to life.